Leveraging Assets to Overcome Barriers: Latinx Persistence in Engineering/Computer Science

• In Event: Critical Analyses of STEM's Systemic Inequities

Abstract

This study draws on two years of ethnographic data collection to uncover the assets leveraged by Latinx engineering/CS undergraduates in order to persist in their studies to graduation and into the profession or graduate school. The study took place at a large, public Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) on the Mexico-US border and included 27 Latinx engineering/CS seniors who were tracked through one year post-graduation. Our analysis brings together two theoretical frameworks, community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005) and identity resources (Cote & Levine, 2008), to identify Latinx student assets, which were categorized as relational, positional, aspirational, and communicative. This study has implications for both institutions and program administration in STEM fields.

Authors

• Erika L. Mein, The University of Texas - El Paso

• Alberto Esquinca, San Diego State University

• Helena Mucino-Guerra, University of Texas - El Paso